Elevating grader



Jan. s, 1929. 1,698,152

- P. C. COLE ELEVATING GRADER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 6 1927 Patented Jan. .8.,v 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PERRY o. COLE, OFKAUB'URN, ivnismisxn.y

` ELEVATING GRADER.

Application filed June, 1927. Serial No. 1965896.

My invention relates to elevating graders and its primary object 1s the provision of a drum which receives soll and lifts thesoil on its inner peripheral wall and delivers itv at either side. Y

Another object of my invention 1s the provision of an endless flexible conveyer inside the drum and so positioned with reference to the inner peripheral wall f the drum vision of a` draft device which is adjustable to reduce the side draft of the implement regardless of which sidey the delivery conveyer is positioned.

It is also my object to provide an elevating grader which may be made at a relatively low cost and which will elevate the soil and deliver it at the side'of the grader with the least possible expenditure ofenergy and at the lowest possible cost and in which the distance through which the soil is transf ported fromv the road to the wagon is reduced to a minimum. n

Having in view these objects and others which will be pointed out in the following description, I will now refer to the draw'- ings, in which Figure 1 is a view in isometric projection of the elevating drum and cooperating` 1nembers. Y

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the elevating drum. n Figure 3 is.` an elevational view of carrier and its support. f

Figures is a diagrammatic plany view of l the the entire machine.

Figure 5 is a view yin elevation of the clutch mechanism f-or driving'the conveyer in either direction. j j

The machine consists largely of a drum for elevating excavated soil to a conveyer 11 and having means, suchV as` the Scrapers 12, for feeding the soil into the` drum. It also includes a rearvplatform 13 for the driver anda front draft appliance 14, the front draft appliance being designed for adjustment to take care lof the side draft due to the shifting of the load on the conveyer 11 when the conveyer is shifted position to the other.

from onel The drum, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, is

hollow and is provided vwith an endless flexible conveyer' 15v which cooperates with the inner peripheral wall of the drum, The conveyerI 15 is supported on two rollers which are mounted on ixed shafts 16 and 17, the shaft 16 being the driving shaft for the conveyer 15.,A Due to the heavy load whichis placed on this carrier, it is supported at a number of points by means of rollers 18 which are flexibly mounted, the construction of the mounting being best shown in Figure 2. The mounting consists of a plurality of curved links 19 which are pivotally conn-ected in .end to end relation and with the,v

lower end links pivotally `secured to the shaft 17. The rollers 18 are journalledin links 19. Secured to the frame of the drum and more'or less concentric therewith is an arcuate. member 20which serves as an abutment for the springs 21 which bear against the semental members 19 and urge them normcilly toward the periphery of the jdrum. i

Itwill be obvious that soil which is fed into the drum will b-e carri-ed up a certain distance by the inner peripheral wall of the drum during itstravel and that it will thenv be engaged between the outer run of the conveyer 15 and the inner peripheral wall of the drum. It will also be apparent thatthe size ofthe throat between the lower roller and the inner peripheral wall governs the rate at'which soil maybe fedinto the conveying'channel and that. the flexibility of thearcuate members 19 under the actionof the springs'21 will. prevent clogging or choking kof 'the conveyer.

The conveyer' 15 is deflected over an idler V22 and over a belt tightening idler 23. rlhe idler 22 is mounted on theliixed shaft but the shaft of the idler 23 is slidable in a more or less horizontal direction toward and away from the conveyer 15. The spring'24c urges the shaft ofthe idler 23 toward the belt and thus maintains'thet requisite tension in the conveyer.

The means for drivingthe'conveyer 15 vand drives a pinion on the shaft 16. The vav rious gearsand pimons may, of course, be

varied sc as to drive the conveyer 15 at a rate equal to that of the movement of the drum 10 or it may be geared so as to drive the conveyer either faster or slower than the drum. It will usually be found, however, that the rates of movement of the 'conveyer and of the drum should be approximately equal. y

The drum is supported inside a vehicle frame as shown in Figure 1,. This frame comprises horizontal members 31, 32 and 33 and vertical members 34, the members 3l, 33 and 34 being arranged in more o1' less rectangular relation. The two opposite frame members are connected together their corners by means of shafts or rods 3o and 'these shafts 0r rods carry rollers 3G which bear against the outer peripheral wall ofthe drum l0. Inside the drum l0 and immediately un-v derneath the outlet end ofthe conveyer l5 is a lateral conveyer ll. The conveyer l1 rigidly secured" to a frame which 4is suspended from a fixed frame projected upwardly from the frame members 33. In my preferred construction I employ four frame members 37 to form two inverted V-shaped uprights andV I connectV these two uprights by means of a rod 38 which serves as a pin Yor axis for supporting the frame of the lateral conveyer 11. This frame consistsof two pairs of upwardly converging beams 39, each pairA being connected by means of a cross beam 40 which is pivoted directly to the support 38. The frame may be swung from one side to the other either :mechanically orv manually so that the soil may be delivered into wagons at either side of the machine and itmay be held in position by any desired means.

he lateral conveyer 11V is positively driven by means ofthe gearing shown in Figures 2 and 3. Slidably secured to.A the conveyer chain is a supporting member41 having a transverse shaft 42 which carries a sprocket wheel 43 and engaging a sprocket chain 44 of the conveyor. The sprocket chain 44 travels over two sprocket wheels 45 at opposite ends of the conveyer frame. Due to the heavy load carried by the conveyer, the

y upper run: thereof is supported on a plural ity of rollers 46 which serve as idlers and which aresecured to shafts journalled in the conveyer frame. The shaft 42 is driven by .means of a sprocket chain 47 which in turn is driven by a sprocket wheel on the shaft 49. Referring now to Figure 2 thereis provided a shaft 49 which is in alignment with the shaft 26. Theshaft 49 has secured thereto a gear 50 which meshes with the toothed edge of the drum l0. It will be obvious that the shafts 26 and 49; will be driven in opposite directions and that if the conveyeris driven by one or the other of these two shafts, it will operate in the direction del termined' by that shaft. The" shafts are vshaped ends.

therefore provided at their inner ends with cone members 5l and 52 and they are enclosed by means of a sleeve 53 having cone By shifting the sleeve 53 in one direction or the other, it may be forced into engagement with eitherthe cone 5l or the cone 52 and the sleeve 53 will then rotate in the direction of the cone with which it is in engagement. For thus shifting the sleeve 53, any suitable shift-ing mechanism may be employed as for instance a grooved member 54 and a. link which may be actuated by means of a lever 56. The sleeve is further provided with a sprocket wheel for driving the sprocket chain 47.

The elevating grader which I have described and shown in mydrawings possesses numerous marked advantages over graders now in use. The drum and its Vtread are very narrow so that the machine can be op`erated in places which are inaccessible to graders of the ordinary types. It may be operated at the extreme side of the road' where the ditch. `causes considerable trouble for graders of other forms. It may be operated on either side of the road because the transverse conveyer may be shifted to deliver the soil on leither side of the machine or it may be shifted to deliver the soil atA the side of the road when the conditions are such as to make this desirable. The soil may be ,delivered to the drum in any desired manner and the natural movement 0f the drum will tend to lift the soil on the inner peripheral back wall of the drum, this lift 'ich ing tendency being accentuated .by means of the endless belt conveyer l5. The loose soil travels a dist-ance of the minimum length through a circular arc and isthen delivered Vto the transverse conveyer. The energy required to lift the `soil is thus reduced to a minimum. The belt 15 is so arranged that its is always tight and that it is yieldable under excessive loads so that there is no danger of the clogging of the passageway and theconsequent injury tothe belt.

Having thus described my Vinvention in such full, clear,V and exact terms that itis construction and operation will be readily understood by others skilled in the art to which it pertains, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. In an elevating graden, a rotatable. drum adapted to travell over the surface of the soil and `to receive soil therein, a conveyer within said drum for lifting the soil against the inner peripheral back wall of the drum during the travel thereof, said conveyerpbeing yieldable toi prevent clicking ofl the passageway for the soil, and means for receiving the soil from the interior of.

said drum and delivering it at theside of i drum adapted to travel over the surface of the soil and to receive soil therein, a flexible conveyer forming With the inner peripheral back Wall of the drum a channel for the up- Ward passage of the soil, a transverse-conveyer for receiving the soil from said drum and delivering it at theside of the grader, and means on said drum for driving both of said conveyers.

3. In an elevating grader, a rotatable drum adapted to travel over vthe surface of the soil and to receive loose soil therein, an endless conveyer Within said' drum and forming a channel for the upward passage of the soil between said conveyer and the inner peripheral rear Wall of the drum, a-

`plurality of rollers Withinl said conveyer,

andsprings for normally urging said rollers againstv said conveyer and toward the back Wall of said drum.

4f. ln an elevating grader, a rotatable drum adapted to travel on the surface of the soil and to receive loose soil therein, an endless conveyer Within said drum and adapted to lift the soil along the inner back Wall of said drum, said eonveyer being iXed relatively to said drum, a lixed abutment Within said conveyer, an arcuate"member bearing against said conveyer, and resilient members between said abutment and said arcuate member for normally urging said conveyer toward the rear Wall of said drum.

In testimony Whereor1 I aix my signature.

PERRY C. COLE. 

